World Fraction Chronicles
by MovieGeekT
Summary: When the World Fraction took place, tens of thousands of players awoke to find themselves in the world of the MMORPG" Elder Tales" - here is the story of one group. After appearing in Susukino they try to slowly come to terms with their new reality, without losing themselves in the process. Will slowly add introductions to certain characters from the anime, sticking to the timeline
1. Chapter 1

LOG HORIZON

The Giant's club caused an enormous cracking sound as it swung through the trees; a flurry of snow flew from the branches, adding to the already considerable snowfall. Uprooted, the great pines collapsed.

Luckily, the Giant's actual target had leapt back a second prior.

"Oh, close but no cigar!"

Raising her bow once again, the slender Elf waited for the Giant's swinging rampage to cease, aiming for her bow's next target.

"Jesus Liz, watch what you're doing! You're no good to us if you're dead!" Kiyoko shouted in fury, as the groups Cleric and Healer, her anger was not unfounded.

"You worry too much, we've got this… Atrophy Shot!"

Atrophy Shot – an Assassin Exclusive Skill – was an attack aimed at the opponent's revealed nerves, which would momentarily paralyze the target and apply a movement speed debuff for a few seconds afterwards.

The now glowing arrow flew through the air faster than anyone but the caster could follow, striking the Giant directly in the neck, releasing a green shockwave over its entire body, and bringing it crashing to the ground. Clearly pleased with herself, Liz raised her bow in the air for a victory stance, flicking her blonde hair with the other hand.

"You're welcome!"

"A lovely shot as usual Liz … But can we celebrate later?" The third member of the party, Thomas, yelled. Aiming his left arm towards the now paralyzed Giant, and raising his staff with the other arm, activating one of his Summoner Skills. As a Summoner, Thomas was able to call forth monsters that would ordinarily attack adventurers, but instead would be under his control, making it an extremely versatile class.

"Summon Follower: Golem!"

In an instant, a large summoning circle, measuring 6 feet in diameter, and accompanied by the sound of a single, large bell toll, covered the ground in front of the now-recovering Giant. Rising from the glowing sigil, a Golem began to form, forging itself from the earth within the summoning circle, and within a few seconds the Golem stood at full height. At 10-feet tall, even the Giant's height was rivalled.

"Attack!"

Now recovered from the paralyzing effect, the beast charged towards the summoned creature, club raised in the air, and ready to kill.

"Not so fast, ugly!"

Jax, the parties Guardian, dashed through the outskirts of the clearing, stopping a few feet behind the enormous creature, his dark armour reflecting the light of the moon.

"Don't worry Kiyoko, I've got this!" craning his neck to give his teammate a wink.

"I don't need you to babysit me!"

Jax raised his greatsword with both hands, with a smirk rising on his face.

"Get a load of this you beautiful monstrosity - Anchor Howl!"

Often regarded as the Guardian's signature skill – Anchor Howl forces all enemies within a certain radius of the caster to attack them, and if the call is ignored, they would be struck with a powerful counterattack, making it an extremely effective ability to use in combat.

With his greatsword raised in the air, the Guardian was bathed a bright white light, shaking the ground around him. With the armoured warrior now a beacon in the dark, and the radius of Anchor Howl enveloping the Giant – Jax became impossible to ignore. Turning with an unusual agility, the Giant shifted his weight and charged towards him, only a few feet away, the giant roared with palpable fury, swinging its club wildly in the air.

"Oh crap."

The smirk on Jax's face quickly faded as the fast approaching monstrosity now only had eyes for him, raising his Dragonhorn Greatsword in a defensive posture, he prepared his body for the attack.

The club connected with the Guardian's weapon, releasing a large shockwave from the meeting of the two a temporary stalemate. However, the momentum behind the Giant's attack was far beyond that of Jax's stance, and the Guardian was catapulted backwards, connecting harshly with the ground – and losing 24% of his HP.

'Christ… can't take too many of those… ha…"

The giant leant back and roared, after delivering a powerful blow, before retraining his vision back to his newest victim, the Giant disregarding the substantial assault being delivered by the summoned Golem, throwing punch after punch of solid earth to the creature's back.

A robed healer dashed forward, positioning herself a few feet behind Jax, her robe and foxtail flowed behind her like water as she moved, staying light on her feet. Opening her leather-bound magical tome, Kiyoko swiftly raised her hand, pointing her fingers towards the unsettled Guardian, and channelled a great golden light from her book, activating one of her many Cleric skills.

"Healing Light!"

A great wave of golden wave connected her to Jax, exchanging her MP in order to increase his HP. Healing Light was a basic healing spell, but with a short casting time and low cooldown, it was extremely popular among Clerics.

"Naw, you really like me don't you?"

"If you say another word, I'll kill you myself."

Jax would slowly regain HP for the next 15 seconds, in which time his HP would be full once again. Standing up from his forced sitting position, he refocused his attention towards the clubbed beast.

"Give me a couple of seconds for this spell to work its stuff!" the Guardian yelled to his party members.

"Sure thing!"

"You got it!"

A basic party formation has three key elements in. For any party to be successful for a long period of time at least one Tank, one Healer, and One Damage-Deale are needed. All of which were accounted for. With two Damage-Dealers in the party, their damage output was high then the average 3-person party.

The summoned Golem was continuing to land solid punches onto the back of the Giant, each one making a cracking noise as Earth collided with bone.

Liz drew back her bow again, aiming directly for the back of the Giant's head, with Atrophy Shot still in cooldown, she chose to use another one of her many skills.

"Silent Sniper!"

– An Assassin Skill that allowed those equipped with a Bow and Arrows to silently mark an enemy, increasing the hit and critical rating, and the damage dealt to that target. However the skill can only be used while the caster is stationary, making a tactical choice of when to use this ability, key.

The Assassin's eyes adopted a fluorescent green glow as she focused on her target, filtering out everything else around her. With her bow fully drawn, and stern look on her face, she released her second ability in this combination, and fired the arrow.

"Rapid Shot…"

In the course of a second, barrages of highly trained arrows were fired towards the Giant, ensured to hit their target, and with significant force. Each arrow gave off a brief whistling sound as it whipped past Thomas, like bullets from a rifle. Each bolt connected with the force of a cannonball, hitting the unaware monster at the base of the neck, and knocking it off balance – bringing it to its knees. Screaming out in a cry of pain, surprise and anger.

"Yes! Nice shot!"

Giving a small clap to his party member, the Summoner turned his head back towards the weakened monster.

Thomas' chosen Subclass - "Scholar" - allowed him to access far more information about enemies than any other class from the User Interface, this included; type weaknesses and resistances, as well as current buffs and debuffs affecting the creature, and Anchor Howl would only remain in effect for a few more seconds.

With the Guardian at 85% HP and rising and the Giant at 51%, the battle was looking promising.

Raised his staff towards the recovering behemoth, the Golem now crumbling considerably, was only a few seconds away from destruction, making use of the few seconds he had for his plan to work, Thomas swiftly called for another ability.

"Guardian Fi-WHAAAA…!"

Thomas was sent flying through the air, taking away most of his HP, another Giant had entered the fight slapping the Summoner aside with its huge hand, hitting the ground a moment later - Thomas was down to 23% HP.

The previous Giant had once again stood up, swinging its club around wildly in rage, stirred up by the sudden appearance of another of his kind.

"Oh my god are you kidding me?!"

The whole group, all of whom couldn't believe how suddenly it had appeared, shared Kiyoko's shock.

The Giant rush towards Thomas again, raising its hand to deal the final blow.

The other members of the party stood in shock at the sudden drastic change of the situation.

"B-Black Curtain!"

Slamming his palm to the ground the Summoner called forth another spell - and a stone archway appeared beneath him on the ground, Thomas fell down through the hole, enveloped by a black curtain, and was gone.

Less than a second later, another archway appeared across the clearing, next to Liz, and in an upright position, from which Thomas ejected quickly– flying through with the momentum of his fall, and landing on his back. Raising his arm towards the archway, the magic archway faded, and the passage was gone. Where Thomas and the archway had been only a second ago, there was now a crater where the Giant's hand had connected with the Earth.

"Ughhhhhh… that hurt…"

Thomas exhaled as he spoke, standing himself back up, clearly winded from his unconventional fall. Brushing off his leather waistcoat from the dust, Thomas was verbally assaulted.

"Ugh you idiot! I thought you were going to die!"

Slapping the lucky mage over the back of the head, Liz gave him a brief glare before raising her bow again towards the first Giant.

"Sorry, it took me by surprise!"

"You three, focus on the first Giant, try and kill him before he kills you, I'll get the attention of this latest pain in the arse and keep him busy!"

Jax barked the orders and the four jolted into action, switching sides of the clearing, the Guardian dashed across towards the second Giant, attracting his attention with another Anchor Howl and luring him away from the other three members.

The remaining three rushed towards the first Giant spreading around him so there wasn't an easy target, at 51% HP, the Giant wouldn't pose much of a threat to the three of them together.

"Spark Shot!"

Liz, still moving along the clearing, cast another of her abilities. Spark Shot allowed an Assassin to apply an enchantment to their next arrow, dealing extra electrical damage to the enemy if the skills hits, and increasing the total damage output of the attack.

Releasing her bow as she leapt into the air, the arrow, coated in a blue electrical energy soared through the air and struck the Giant on the temple, dealing a large amount of damage, the Giant temporarily disoriented. Landing on a tree branch at the edge of the clearing, Liz checked her skill cooldown, in 30 more seconds she could cast Atrophy Shot, and in 30 more seconds they could do some considerable damage.

"Thomas, don't rush ahead you idiot, stand still for a second! – Heal!"

The simple healing spell allowed Kiyoko to quickly give her party member a small amount of HP instantly, however, due to the low HP level of the Summoner class, the healing received by Thomas was significant in relation.

With a nod to over this shoulder, Thomas ran to the other side of the Giant.

"Much better, thankyou Darling!"

"Don't call me that! … Martyr Spear!"

Waving one hand over her tome and into the air, Kiyoko sent one of the pages soaring above her head, and from the page emerged a beam of pure sunlight, shaped like a spear. Bringing her palm down to face towards the Giant – the spear charged down, striking from the sky with incredible speed and hitting the Giant directly in the spine. From the cry that erupted from the Giant, the pain must have been tremendous.

Lashing out in a fit of rage, the Giant quickly span with it's club, hoping to strike the cause of the pain, Kiyoko expected as much, however her prediction was not enough – while avoiding the brunt force of the club, she was stuck on the leg – sending her spiralling backwards, and landing hard on the ground. 70% HP.

"Kiyoko! Are you alright? Sure you don't want to sit this one out?'

"Oh shut it, I'm fine, that was nothing"

"Well if you're sure…"

Throwing a thumbs-up to her party member on the ground, Liz began firing a handful more arrows into the enemy, the Giant was now down to 30% HP now.

"Hey Jax! How would you like a little assistance?"

"Send me all the love you can!"

"You got it Guardian. Summon Follower: Harpy!"

Thomas held his staff in the air, holding his palm out towards Jax, and created a summoning circle on the ground between him and the Giant, bright blue in colour, this one was much smaller than the first. After a second, the sound of a single bell chime sounded, and a Harpy flew up with great speed from the ground and into the air – as a half bird, half woman, Harpies were extremely swift with their movements and attacks, and served as useful allies.

Soaring through the air, the Harpy began to fly between the two Giants, slashing them with her sharp talons, and distracting them from the ground attack, in combination with her screeching cries, she was a very difficult creature to pin down – especially to the Giants, who relied more on brute force than speed.

Jax was holding steady at 60% HP, using his own greatsword attacks as well as the Harpies attacks to slowly work down the second Giant's HP, now at 92%. Watching as the Giant brought its club around for another attack, the Guardian had anticipated the move, positioning his greatsword to the right of his body – the club approached from the right and was instantly halted by the large blade – activating a Guardian ability, the monster's attack would lead to its downfall.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner! … Counter Break!"

Nullifying much of the damage received from the assault, the warrior shifted his weight, removing the stalemate between the two foes, angling his blade and causing the club to fly over his head, temporary putting the Giant of balance and opening a window for attack, and dealing increased damage to the Giant. With the creature leaning over to the right, a window of opportunity had opened for an attack, leaping into the air and striking the left side of the body, Jax's greatsword carved its way through the creature's shoulder – leaving it at 85% HP.

"Aha!"

Landing a few feet behind the Giant, Jax turned as he came to a halt, sliding across the snow-covered ground. Lifting his Greatsword to rest on his shoulder, the warrior took a small bow, adjusting his goggles as he did. Launching himself forward in one swift move, a wave of snow flakes lifted from where he stood, leaving a ripple effect as he moved – sliding underneath the Giants body, the Guardian slashed the legs as he travelled between them – before repositioning himself in front of the beast in one swift movement.

The sounds of battle echoed from the other side of the clearing, alongside the dwindling battle cries of the first Giant, now at only 10% HP, the monster would soon fall. The huge creature swung his weapon wildly, as if angrily swatting for a group of flies, the ground shaking with each missed attack – and leaving another small crater in the earth.

"Almost got it guys! Don't let up – Elemental Bolt!"

Firing an orb of powerful winds towards the Giant, Thomas cheered as their targets health continued to fall.

"Let's finish this, stand back!"

Liz leapt down from another tree - dashing straight towards the Giant before her. Gracefully evading the almighty club, and jumping right onto the huge arm holding the weapon, climbing up the monsters arm, up past the shoulder and the head. Crouching down, she sprung straight up into the night sky, climbing higher and higher before disappearing among the flurry of snow falling from the sky.

"Assassination!"

Like lightning from the heavens, a colossal bolt of blue energy pierced the night sky like the wrath of a God, and crashing directly down onto the Giant's head.

The monster froze; the rage drained from its eyes, leaving a cold, vacant expression. A huge crash was heard as the club was released from the Giant's grasp, barely missing Thomas as he leapt out of the way, into a nearby snow pile.

The behemoth collapsed to the ground as its HP hit 0.

The monster had no life left within its body, and what was left was merely a shell of what once was. With stunned silence, the Summoner and the Cleric stood with their mouths agape, they cast their eyes to each other, then back up to the sky as the Assassin fell back down through the snow, landing with cat-like grace on the Giants prominent stomach.

"It's rude to hold your mouth open – you both know that right? … Besides, Jax is getting is ass handed to him over there. Come on!"

Giving each other one final look of surprise, Thomas and Kiyoko shook themselves back to reality, gathering their thoughts; the two joined Liz and dashed across the clearing – with their next target in sight there was no stopping them now.

5 days ago, due to unknown reasons, 30,000 Japanese players and 1000's more worldwide woke up to find themselves in Theldesia – the fictional world of the MMORPG "Elder Tales" – occupying the bodies of their in-game avatars, with all of their skills and abilities, and with no way back home. This event, now referred to as "The Apocalypse" by the players transported here, had happened without warning, without reason, and it was all real, it was not a dream – and this, was their new reality.


	2. Chapter 2

In Elder Tales, the island of Yamato – the games half-scale recreation of Japan – has five major cities. Added periodically to the game over the span of 17 years, these cities act as hubs for players to connect with others, buy and trade items, and as a place to rest and relax in between quests. Akihabara, the first city added to the server, is the most popular among the five – and following the Apocalypse, houses over 15,000 players.

Susukino however, the most northern city in Yamato, holds only roughly 2,000 players, making it one of the smallest.

"I seriously doubt you could have taken those Giants by yourself, Liz. I think you're maybe overestimating your skills just a little…"

"I'm so offended right now, OF COURSE I COULD! Did you not see me out there? I was the very personification of grace!"

"Psh… Ok…"

The sky above was ablaze with the amber light of dawn; and the battle with the Giants was now behind the group, revelling in their victory of the past nights exploits - the voices of Liz and Thomas pierced the early morning silence as they jested.

Kicking the snow off of the top of her boots, Kiyoko turned and looked at her fellow party members walking beside her. The four of them – Kiyoko, Jax, Liz, and Thomas – had dealt with so much over the past few years, even before the Apocalypse, and now they were here, in Elder Tales, still together.

At level 48, Kiyoko was the lowest levelled of the group – however, her loyalty to her friends was absolute, giving her an impressive drive to help, from being a shoulder to cry on, to killing giant monstrosities – and to this end, there was nothing she wouldn't do for them. The other three - whose levels varied from 49 to 52 – were equally passionate; they had known each other for over ten years and would probably know each other for many more.

As the four approached the city wall she couldn't help but smile, turning her head back to face ahead, they were a tough unit, and within the world of Elder Tales – they were a formidable force.

"I don't know about you guys, but the first thing I'm doing when we get back to the city is taking a nap for about… 10 years…"

The bodies that players use, that was once their online avatar, while they are considerably stronger than their Earth counterparts, do still suffer from tiredness and fatigue albeit to a lesser degree – and dependent on a persons class, subclass and stats they will have more or less strength and stamina. As a Guardian, Jax's body was better equipped for sustained fighting than anyone else in his group, and as a result everyone in the party was now considerably fatigued from the night.

The group gave a tired chuckle, walking towards Susukino's city gate; the three were not far from their desired rest.

The cities of Yamato were classed as non-aggression zones, PvP known also as PK'ing –which was the act of one player killing another - was not allowed in these zones. As soon as a player attempted to initiate a battle, incredibly powerful magical knights would appear, and kill, or otherwise deter them. As an extension of this theme, monsters were also not found within the 5 major cities, and could not enter – because of this, the cities of Yamato are often considered safe havens for players.

Passing under the enormous portcullis, the four entered their home city of Susukino.

"I still can't believe how quiet it is here… I know it's early but, it really doesn't get much busier than this…"

Thomas shared his concerns with his group, looking down the side streets as they passed, fresh snow from the night before had blanketed everything in sight, dampening the already quiet city, giving the area an eerie quality.

"Every body is afraid to leave the city, if they even get that far, people stay in their homes or the inns because that's where they feel safer…"

A troubled look formed on Jax's face as he replied, clearly bothered by the situation.

"… and Brigandia isn't making it any easier, if those guys would lay off things wouldn't be so bad around here… but I really don't see that happening…"

The four adventurers proceeded down the empty streets, only occasionally passing another person, or a merchant hoping to sell their goods to someone. Feeling sorry for a particular fruit merchant near the centre of town, the four each bought a piece of fruit, albeit for a price far higher than its worth – taking into consideration that unprepared fruit was one of the only foods that had flavour as well. The merchant gave them all a heart-filled thank you – and waved goodbye as they continued on their way.

As they rounded a corner, with their hunger sated and with the Inn in sight, the four gave a collective sigh.

"Oh thank god! Lord have mercy on these thighs…"

The building itself did not stand out in any particular way, one could walk past it very easily and assume it was just another home - only by the simple wooden sign handing above the doorway could you tell what it was – "The Broken Stool Inn" complete with a small stool engraving underneath. The simple grey stone exterior of the Inn matched that of the rest of the city – prominent wooden beams supported the walls and framed many of the buildings within the city – in combination with the near constant cold temperatures, the city of Susukino never came off as particularly cheerful.

Approaching the Inn, the weary travellers were ready for rest. Reaching her hand out to let them into the building, Liz was promptly hit in the face by the very door she was going to open. Taken by surprise, the slim Elf was knocked to the ground, grasping her nose, as if to hold it onto her face.

"Ah! Son of b- …"

Rushing from the now open door, a small girl came to stand in front of the group – bowing frantically and shaking her head as she apologised to the Elf on the ground.

"Oh, ImsorryImsorryImsorry! I couldn't see you – please forgive me!"

The apologetic adventurer seemed as though she would cry from having hit someone with the door. At level 19, the young player must have been relatively new to the game before the Apocalypse

happened.

"N-No no, it's fine… really! My parents always said I was too nosey for my own good, I guess I never took it to be literal, hah…"

Liz tried to console the little Druid, still bowing repeatedly.

The girl looked remarkably young to be a player, given the considerable subscription fee to play Elder Scrolls, the average age of the players on the game was higher than most others of its kind – which made seeing a player younger than 18 quite a rarity. Her long auburn hair was tied back in a simple style, exaggerating her youthful features.

"Really? You're ok?"

Pausing to reply to Liz, the player looked up from the ground, clearly very embarrassed.

"Yes, I'm fine, please don't worry – accidents happen!"

Liz gave a reassuring smile to the little Druid, who smiled back evidently thankful she wasn't hurt.

The Elf stood up off of the ground, brushing herself off, casting a brief look to her friends, before looking back to the new player.

"Oh! I'm Liz, and these are my friends – Thomas, Kiyoko, and that gorilla there is Jax"

Liz winked to her teammate, and the little girl giggled as Jax's frustrated face.

"Nice to meet you everyone! I'm Serara! I'm sorry again for rushing through the door – I should have checked…"

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, and please don't apologise, it's really OK…"

The other three party members said their greetings to Serara, clearly smitten with sudden appearance of the little Druid.

"As long as you're sure.. OH! Oh no! I'm supposed to be meeting someone right now – I've got to go! Um. Nice meeting you all!"

Serara bowed again as she said her goodbyes, running across the courtyard with haste, turning to wave back to the group as she turned a corner, smiling one final time, and she was gone. The group paused for a moment, watching as the Druid turned the corner and left, Liz gave a content sigh as she left, looking towards her other party members.

"Sweet girl, I hope she'll be alright…"

"She said she was going to meet someone, probably a friend or something - she'll be fine…"

Considering his reassuring comment, Liz nodded towards Thomas, giving one final glance to the now empty corner, before turning and entering the Inn – leaving the cold morning outside.

The interior of the Inn often surprised those who have never visited before, in contrast to the outside of the building; the interior was actually quite inviting. The layout of the room was centred around a large seating area in the middle, designed for those who want to enjoy food and drink (with no taste) with several sets of tables and chair in the centre of the room, organised around a small wood burner.

With a large fireplace on the far wall, the temperature of the Inn itself also made it very comfortable. Around the outside of the room, several sofas, futons, and armchairs are placed – giving the overall room a relaxed aesthetic. As current occupants of the Inn, the group made their way over to the right of the room – which housed a small wooden counter, used for ordering food, drinks, as well as making room bookings. Ordering their meals and drinks, the four handed gold over the counter to the Inn Steward before taking a seat near the fireplace, pushing two sofas to face one another, and making their own space.

The four placed their weapons within their Magic Bags and relaxed, enjoying the ambiance and warmth of the Inn. An extremely useful item, Magic Bags are used to carry an considerable amount of items, with no weight or capacity limits – the bag is acquired through a level 45 quest "Get The Magic Bag" and was something the group had accomplished shortly before the Apocalypse. Once the items needed to create the bag are gathered, the bag itself can be created in a number of different styles, from backpacks, to messenger bags and satchels.

As the night progressed the group ate, drank, and laughed – enjoying their day alongside the others inside the inn, utilizing Jax's Musician subclass, the inn was filled with music as the day progressed, the sounds of cheering and Jax's Lute was a comforting change of pace for the Adventurers and People of The Land alike.

One by one, the members of the group began to quieten and fall asleep, one by one losing their battles to fatigue – and after being jolted awake by Kiyoko, the four decided to return to their rooms, and to try and get some rest. With the ladies in one room, and the men in the other, the four said their goodnights to one another, before heading into their rooms and getting ready for sleep.

Both laid in their beds, Thomas and Jax lay awake, disturbed by the sunlight leaking through the curtain and into their room, looking through his personal UI – Jax scans through his current stats, experience, HP, and so on, soaking in all the information about himself - flicking his finger through the air, and pressing the menus only visible to him.

"Hey Jax… Do you remember earlier, the guy in the bright green robe that wouldn't shut up about how good you were on that Lute?"

"Yeah, I remember, he has great taste – what about him?"

Looking over to his friend, Thomas pauses.

"I was speaking with him at the bar… and he said that Akihabara… well, apparently everything's not so bad over there… I mean there's no dictatorship guild looming over it for starters…"

"Good for them, what's your point?"

"Well… I think we should go… we should go to Akihabara, the guys said his friends been speaking with him through Telepathy, and things have really picked up over there, and with all the people that are in the city – it's not surprising if you think about it."

Jax sits up in his bed, his brown hair pressed into an unusual style where his goggles usually rested on his head, looking across to his friend in the opposite bed.

"Thomas, you do know it would take us like… almost two weeks to get from here to Akihabara right? We might as well swim over to the China Server for how long it would take…"

Clearly not on board with the idea, Jax's tone is serious.

"I realise, but if were stuck in this world we might as well try, I can't live here forever… and besides, we can use our Horse Whistles, and I could summon a couple of Unicorns – we can travel for like 8 hours a day… it really wouldn't take that long…"

"You can do that? I thought you can only have one summon at a time?"

"Well, yeah, usually, but if it's the same thing – I can summon multiple, as long as I can keep my MP topped up we're good to go…"

Considering the new information, Jax's face reflected the calculation he was performing in his head, pros and cons, risks, benefits, all for a journey to Akihabara. Rubbing the back of his head, Jax's mouth crept into a small grin, raising his eyebrows to Thomas – he had been convinced.

"Alright then… If we are stuck here it might as well be somewhere nice, I don't want to stick around here either if things with the Brigandia Guild don't improve… We can ask the girls in the morning, and if they say yes… well…"

"…We'll have to do some serious shopping, with the Intercity Travel Gates down… I don't think anyone has done a journey this large before, there was no need…"

Pulling his Magic Bag up from under his bed, Thomas looks through what's inside, rummaging around the magical interior. The sound of glass clinking together, parchment moving, and wooden items knocking together rise from the depths of the bag – finally finding what he wanted. Thomas places a rolled parchment on the bed, before placing the bag back underneath.

Sitting up on his bed, feet hanging over the edge, he unrolls the scroll – revealing a fairly detailed map of Yamato – showing the locations of the 5 major cities, and a few other key locations on the island. Moving his finger along the map, the Summoner traces the path between Susukino and Akihabara – significantly further south. The Scribe that created this map also created a magical aspect to the scroll, a compass, drawn in the top right corner of the map, which worked like it's physical counterpart.

With the combination of certain parchments and inks, a qualified Scribe can apply any number of magical qualities to documents, making them that much more dynamic and useful to their owners – this particular scroll had cost a significant amount gold to buy – but was very much worth it for travel.

"I was thought this would come in handy eventually… and I was right!"

Craning his head to see the parchment Jax takes a look at the scroll, before lying back down on the bed – smiling again at the sudden formulation of this plan.

"I'll admit… I'm kinda excited to do this, I can't imagine the girls will say no, definitely not Liz at any rate…"

"Damn right they won't, I would go ask now but I they're probably asleep by now…"

"You're probably right… better not risk it… anyway, speaking of sleep, I think I'm going to give it another shot… I REALLY need it….'

Rolling over to face the wall, Jax gives off a single yawn, pulling the blanket up over himself as he gets ready for sleep.

"Goodnight man…"

"Sleep tight!"

With the goodnights over, Thomas gives another glance to the map in his hands, thinking about the journey ahead, excited like a child on Christmas Eve. Smiling to himself, he rolls up the scroll, places it on the bedside table and lies back down, rubbing his eyes and closing them – thoughts of Akihabara dancing just behind his eyes – however, it isn't long at all until they're both fast asleep.


End file.
